Optimism of whites in US lags blacks, Hispanics by big margin

11:14 PM,
Aug. 1, 2013

Americorps volunteer John Harris III, left, who is helping to coordinate a jobs fair program, talks to Yolanda Jeter, right, and other job seekers on Wednesday in Washington. Americans' attitudes about their economic future are now sharply divided by race, with whites significantly less likely than blacks or Hispanics to think they can improve their own standard of living.

Written by

Hope Yen
and Jennifer Agiesta

Americans' attitudes about their economic future are sharply divided by race, with whites significantly less likely than blacks or Hispanics to think they can improve their own standard of living. Indeed, optimism among minorities now outpaces that of whites by the widest margin since at least 1987, a new analysis shows.

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research analysis shows that after years of economic attitudes among whites, blacks and Hispanics following similar patterns, whites' confidence in their economic future has plummeted in the last decade. Blacks ...